>> time now for hits and misses of the week. mary, first to you. >> paul, this was multiple sclerosis awareness week and i want to give a hit to the basketball point guard chris wright who signed with the dallas mavericks making him the first person with the disease to play in the nba when he was diagnosed, playing pro ball in turkey, in 2011, most people thought his career was over. but he persevered and now has got the chance in the nba. i think his achievement this week is is a testament to his own strength, but also modern medicine. >> paul: thanks, mary.

peggy. i had the miss, it's a very small thing, but it's a trend. we should nip it in the bud. rand ball wore jeans at cpac the other day and a shirt jacket tie and jeans looked a little like a farmer according to me. and earlier marco rubio took to comparing the comparative work of tupack and biggie small. and nothing is uncooler than trying to be cool. forget demographics, go to brooklyn where the immigrants of america are. >> thanks, peggy, dan? >> a quick hit to the politicians in afghanistan who hit back at president karzai's accusation that the american troops were colluding with the taliban, a big hit to the afghan politicians.

>> paul: that's it for this week's show. thanks to my panel and all of you for watching. we hope to see you here next week. week. >> another week feel of news. >> we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. >> mr. obama gives his friend george an exclusive one-on-one. did it make news or advance his charm offensive? >> there has to be a home and a movement in america for people who believe in limited government, constitutional principles, and a free enterprise system and that should be us. >> conservatives gather in cpac to stir the party as the media aimed to stir controver controversy. catholic cardinals elect a new church leader, a man of the people. how did the press react to their pick? liberal big-mouth michael moore wants to do something

really heartless and stupid. al gore gets a grilling over his hypocritical deal with al-jazeera, and the media show tear support for mayor bloomberg's antics. which stories made our list? find out next on news watch. >> jon: on the panel this week, daily beast columnist kirsten powers, rich grinle spokesman to the last four members ambassador united nations and jim pinkerton, and analyst juan williams, i'm joan scott, fox news watch is on right now. >> we're not going to balance the budget in ten years because if you look at what paul ryan does to balance the budget, it means that you have to voucherize medicare, you have to slash deeply into programs like medicaid.

my goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. >> jon: so president obama there appearing on abc telling george stephanopoulos that balancing the budget is not his goal and attacking congressman paul ryan for the budget that he proposed. so, jim, to you first. did the media ignore the president's contention that a balanced budget is not really in the realm for him? >> i don't think the media have ever thought of that as a particularly high goal for themselves and yet, as scott loopo, american conservative and matt miller "the washington post," both pointed out the problem the president's had on this sort of moderate budget course he's trying to strike, which is part tax increases and part this alleged spending cuts, nobody is really for that and too vague and also used the word gut g-u-t when it refers

to medicare i think is the beginning of the 2014 mid term elections, where the democrats are going to come after the republicans and paul ryan on gutting or slashing, their words, medicare. and i think that that action, you see it in the-- the democratic congressional campaign committee twitter feed is really where the democrats are headed. >> jon: when the president says a balanced budget is not his goal, is that his words? >> i think most reporters are used to hearing this and bush must have said it at every state of the union and and it's sort of boiler plate when people promise it. i think expecting the president to say he wants a balanced budget is putting it in the republican paradigm. most liberals don't think it's the short-term goal. the goal is to avoid austerity and keep the economy moving and in the long run balance the budget, but it's not a short-term goal. >> jon: what about the interview, juan?

stephanopoulos claims it was a no holds barred interview, but it's the charm offensive-- >> now what struck me that even on abc that night it was not the lead story in their own news show and when they got to it, the way they teased it was to say the president talks about the hacking scandal for michelle obama, the first lady. now, is that a clue that there's no news? yes, there was no news. i mean, basically, it is the president using that format, i think, and we saw this with the cbs interview so widely criticized, the 60 minutes interview, he uses the press in this way on his terms and i think this is what we're seeing succeed for him time and again. >> jon: go ahead. >> except, let's be honest, this is the president of the united states who as candidate called 6 trillion dollars unamerican, and 6 trillion dollars is unamerican, 16 trillion dollars is not american. i mean, this is the next level and yet, the media are acting

like, i think you are correct, kirsten, well, we've heard it before. but bush never called his, you know, 6 trillion dollar national debt unamerican. obama did, hold him accountable. if it's unamerican, let's call him unaccountable. >> i was about to say we went through a terrible recession and steps had to be taken and dick cheney is the man who said deficits don't matter. >> but you're avoiding the number one problem, president obama called 6 trillion dollars unamerican and he's overseen 16 trillion dollars. >> in the meantime, paul ryan introduced his budget and hard to find a good word said about it in the press. >> might be thinking of washington post jonathan bernstein, what do you do when one party is this, under line this, dishonest. in the text he called it breath taking dishonest so i

think it speaks for where mr. bernstein sees it and much of the washington post, paul ryan. >> jon: why not? agree or disagree with the budget, why doesn't he get credit for at least putting something on paper this is what we ought to do. >> it's not his job. >> jon: it's the president's job to put out a budget and he says he can't do that. >>en he's been rightly criticized with that. the fact he's late with the budget is a problem and he gets criticism for it. i don't think that paul ryan gets extra points for putting a budget on. but a budget for people to work on, this is not that document. you cannot make the center piece of your budget appealing the president's cornerstone, obamacare, and i don't see this as a serious exercise, it's meant to gin up the base and that's the way it should be be covered. >> jon: in the meantime, juan, the president's charm offensive, is it working on the press? >> on the press? oh, gosh, i think that's old

news. (laughter) been working for a while. i think that's pretty much an old story. and i think that the press has suggested here that the-- if i was to fault the press on the story, somehow he slow to correlate that the numbers are dropping and republicans succeeded in saying that his leadership is failing he can't get the deal. you can't just blame the republicans. >> jon: abc's jonathan carl had this exchange with jay carney, the presidential spokesman, watch. >> how much is it going to cost for the president to travel later to illinois. >> the president is the president of the united states, and he travels the country and i don't have the figure on the presidential travel. it's obviously, something that every president deals with with the security and staff a significant undertaking, but, you know, the president has to travel around the country and travel the world, and that's part of his job. >> how much did it cost for

him to play golf? >> john, again, you're triflizing, people will lose their jobs and three quarters of a million people lose their job. >> jon: the white house is closed for tours, but the president still managed to get in travel this week including a green energy expo in chicago. >> so, jay carney's wife, clare shipman works at abc news with jonathan carl. i would love to see the abc news room for that exchange. you've got to give credit to jonathan carl, here is someone trying to get serious answers. you shouldn't allow the white house to play politics with the white house tours and then be able to get away with the golf outing. >> what about this gotcha attitude? i don't get it. i think it minimizes the impact of the president. that's not a serious question. >> i think it is and i don't understand why-- >> and we've had four years of unserious questions, why now. how much does it cost for the president to get a trip, the american people want to see

him. >> and they don't get to see him golf. >> i agree under the normal circumstances. >> the white house easter egg roll, goes to prove they can get the-- >> and they wear pink shirt. >> they say that's privately funded through egg sales. next on news watch, did some in the media sour a historic event? >> the world media watched as history unfolded. catholic cardinals choose a new pope, a man of the people. have the press left their pick have the press left their pick what's droid-smart ? with google now, it automatically knows when you need to leave for the airport, how much traffic there is, and can have your boarding pass ready. the droid razr maxx hd by motorola. droid-smart. droid-powerful.

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church, pope francis from argentina. the coverage was mixed as we wait today see who will lead the church into the future. critics use the opportunity to push an agenda as noted by peggy noonan in the wall street journal. she writes there's a lot ignorance tendentious and media chatter about the church and start to go grate. and they do it in a new way with a baldness that borders on insulting. and borders on -- >> it's sort of comical, sometimes, you know, watching the headlines coming out and new pope proposes abortion and gay marriage. he's catholic, the head of the catholic church. why would he have different positions than the catholic church. it's just, this idea that the catholic church is supposed to conform with what the new york

times editorial page things how the world should be run is ludicrous. >> jon: the liberals in the media seem to be-- that a liberal wasn't appointed the head of the catholic church. >> one, he's pretty old, 76 and two the first latin and i think where the church is growing and still has influence and three, he's a jesuit that was interesting to see a jesuit in this position and i think one reason he's called pope francis. but to my mind, i disagree with kirsten, american cka catholics want change especially women on contraceptives. if you have a new leader, do you reflect the body of the people in terms of the united states. >> catholic church is it not a democracy. people need to wake up. if you don't like it, don't be catholic. i'm not catholic, but the point is, they're there to guard the truth of the catholic church fot to acquiesce to popular opinion in the united states.

>> that's a source of strength one is enormous media fascination with the institution, back to jesus christ and roman empire and in addition to an article of faith, a museum that looks a li you don't get many of those in the current environment, but the other bias is, i mean, hugh sikes, a news reader for the bbc, secret unelected-- now, that is i would say hostility. and that was the bbc. >> he's a news anchor and still has had a job. >> let's admit to the truth. there is a huge mark against the church in terms of child sex scandals and people would like to see someone more aggressive. >> jon: will the media give him time to effect change or they'll jump on me.

>> he has no -- this is is an outfit was surprised they elected a catholic. they could not believe that the pope was catholic. and i think, you know, i'm not catholic and i think that the election of pope francis was historic in that his humility and the stories about who he really is, it gripped me and again, i'm not catholic and so, i think the catholic church has a moment now to really move forward. >> jon: all right. next on news watch, it was big news then, but what about now? >> it's been ten years since the start of the iraq war. the media coverage was not stopped then, but what about now? is there a story i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely,

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>> over the past nine months

we started a national conversation on linkage between sugary drinks and obesity and despite yesterday's temporary setback, i don't think there's any doubt that momentum is moving in our direction. >> jon: well, that's mayor michael bloomberg of new york city, his efforts to ban the sale of large sodas and sugary drinks shot down by a federal judge on monday. the decision immediately draw criticism from people like piers morgan and others like him who supported the mayor's attempt to force americans to do what he thinks is right. so i guess mike bloomberg and the liberal media know what's best for all of us? >> well, this is a major current in the democratic left now and todd lindbergh of the hoover institution and policy review wrote "left 3.0" we sort of describes the obama era democrats and these guy's visions are very, very important and top of the list.

and however, anybody with 25 billion dollars and a big foundation and a real determination to invest in political races and media and everything else is going to be heard from for a long time to come on this issue. >> jon: the media seems to be backing him. >> i don't know if piers morgan speaks for-- i back him. i don't think he should have said a ban, he should have raised taxes. we have to pay for it in health care the reason you want to do it. it's not because we're so concerned about what other people are consuming, it's he related to diabetes and people gain weight and the health care costs get passed on to everybody living a healthy life, tax them. >> i think the media has gone after him in part because he went after it brutally and tell what you to do and sarah palin said goodness gracious get out of my fridge. and people feel it's too heavy handed. on the other hand there's nothing wrong with saying there's too much obesity. obesity is a problem and i think especially in the

minority communities and our children and i'm for the spirit of it, but he didn't have to pass a law. i mean-- >> he didn't pass a law. >> he passed a law through the city council that would have been better. but wouldn't have gotten it through. >> there's a long line of bad human habits i disagree with, but i don't think that we should tax behavior. i don't think that we should try to-- >> really, cigarettes? >> no. >> alcohol? >> no, no, but if you really are a liberal and you believe-- >> that's their decision, i want them to pay for it. i don't want to pay for it in my tax dollars. >> if we're going to ask people to pay for bad enough, a long line. >> i'm stunned that juan williams is quoting sarah palin. (laughter) this month marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the iraq war. then coverage was wall to wall and today not so much. leading up to the start of the war was the media's greatest failure in recent times.

major news organizations, he writes, aided the bush administration's march to war on turned out to be faulty premise. and all too often skepticism was checked at the door and scary claims of top officials and unnamed sources were trumpeted as fact. >> there was no way around it, but there was skepticism from the new york times down and we had to present the facts as we knew them. it wasn't just american intelligence, it was european intelligence and that's always glossed over. >> jon: what about the focus of the coverage, it seems like it's mostly about the number of dead soldiers, how much it costs and there's nothing ever said about whether progress has been made. >> i'm not really aware of anybody in the media whose interest is to push the story forward anymore.

the left doesn't like the war and is happy it's over and gone and i don't see a lot of conservatives saying, hey, a great idea he we dwe did a lot good stuff there. i don't see that. the rand paul drone issue is kind of a weird spin-off from the iraq war thing and i think on the right, rand paul has won that argument. >> i think it should be be covered on the front pages of spectacular disaster, you know, of the united states, that something that it's certainly in the last, in my lifetime, the biggest blunder that we've made and i think it should be something that school children learn about and that everybody knows happened and that it was a mistake and that we'd never make this mistake again. >> as a media story, that is so, i think howard kirtz is exactly right. people think we were not sufficiently aggressive. i think the skepticism as rick was saying, aggressive, no. >> jon: and the story we covered a few months ago, the topic that journalists covering war may be exploited

or manipulated by one side or the other. a photo of a grieving father in the gaza strip cradling his dead baby sparked outrage when the associate press published it with a caption saying the child was killed by an israeli air strike and israelis claimed it was propaganda to gain sympathy. and they published it not showing a photo after dead israeli child. the investigation showed the child appeared to be killed by a palestinian rocket fell short of israel and the rocket fired in gaza was during one of the conflict and ap since changed the photo's caption to reflect the report's

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